Vladimir Stepania
The real problem is that Mark has it in his head that he has to get some crazy-ass bargain.
The truth.
Now, none of this is a real problem, except that the Mavs have real deficiencies. Remember that throughout the season, just about everybody on this board agreed that the Mavs needed to: get a real starting small forward; improve low post scoring; add depth to the bench; find a real backup shooting guard; overall improve the defense. Well, hey, I think we decided that Raja can back up Finley. The only other issue addressed is drafting Josh Howard. Howard is not the answer despite the claims of the Mavs PR machine. If Howard puts up Najera-esque numbers, he'll be a smashing success; at the same time, he'll also be of very little help for a "contending team"(particularly when it means that he won't contribute much beyond the loss of production of either Walt or Grif).
So we have all these issues to be addressed, and we have done nothing to address them.
This gets lost in the mix a lot of times. The Mavs had needs to address, and they haven't done it.
Imagine going to an auction. The auctioneer announces that the bidding will start at $10M. If a guy jumps up and screams "$3M!!!", that guy will look like a fool. Now further imagine, that after the initial offer of $10M, the bidding goes up to $15M, and the same guy is jumping up and down screaming "$5M!!!".
In essence, this is what Cuban is doing.
Preach on.
Now, I have a question. Is that even trying? Skin of "Ben and Skin" was on the Ticket last week and he said that at least the effort was there. Well, is it really? Are you really trying to make a trade when you are only willing to part with TAW, AJ, Esch or Bradley? Are you actually trying to acquire talent when you offer a guy that made the allstar team in 2003 less than he made the year before (Brad Miller)? Are you trying to acquire talent when you offer a guy 1/3 what another team offers when you can offer the same amount (pippen)? Are you trying to acquire talent when you offer a guy less money over 2 years what another team offers for just one year (Horry)? The Mavs have done or are doing all these things. Is that "effort"?
An interesting point. I have to say no, it's not. If I go into a car dealership and offer them $15,000.00 for a new Ford Expedition, I shouldn't be shocked when they tell me that they can't help me. Same concept here. You'll never get something for nothing in the NBA. No matter how much "effort" you put into it.
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